Friday, February 18
Rock Hill, S.C.
10:00 AM
Ball State University
vs
Robert Morris
Softball Heads To Winthrop Eagle Invitational for Five Games
February 17, 2022 | Softball
| Ball State (1-4; 0-0 MAC) at Winthrop Eagle Invitational | |
| Game 6 vs. Robert Morris (4-1) | Friday, Feb. 18 at 10 a.m. Live Stats | Live Video |
| Game 7 vs. Towson (0-4) | Friday, Feb. 18 at 3 p.m. Live Stats | Live Video |
| Game 8 vs. Albany (0-0) | Saturday, Feb. 19 at 12:30 p.m. Live Stats | Live Video |
| Game 9 vs. Western Carolina (5-2) | Saturday, Feb. 19 at 3 p.m. ET Live Stats | Live Video |
| Game 10 at Winthrop (0-5) | Sunday, Feb. 20 at 12:30 p.m. Live Stats | Live Video |
| Tickets Info | $10 Each Day / $25 For Weekend Pass MORE INFO/PURCHASE TICKETS |
| Social Media | Twitter  |  Instagram |
MUNCIE, Ind. - - The Ball State softball team returns to the road this weekend for five games at the Winthrop Eagle Invitational. The three-day event starts Friday, with the Cardinals battling Robert Morris (10 a.m.) and Towson (3 p.m.).
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The second day of the event has Ball State pitted against Albany (12:30 p.m.) and Western Carolina (3 p.m.). BSU closes the invitational Sunday versus host Winthrop (12:30 p.m.).
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SEASON SO FAR:
- The Cardinals opened the 2022 season last weekend at the DePaul Tournament at the Rosemont Dome, going 1-4 in the event.
- BSU split opening day, falling to St. Thomas by a score of 5-6, before rallying to top Western Illinois, 7-4, in the nightcap.
- Unfortunately, BSU could not keep up the momentum from Friday night, losing to Murray State, 2-5, and Seattle, 5-7, Saturday and closing the tournament with a 1-9 (5) setback to Western Illinois Sunday.
- The Cardinals hit .281 as a team over the three-day event, scoring 20 total runs.
- Of BSU's 36 hits over the course of the tournament, five were doubles and five were home runs.
- BSU's base runners managed to steal eight bases in the first five games of the season, led by a 5-for-5 effort from transfer Remington Ross.
SCOUTING THIS WEEKEND'S OPPONENTS
ROBERT MORRIS: The Colonials opened the season with a 4-1 record at the North Carolina A&T and Howard Round Robin … RMU earned back-to-back eight-inning wins, 2-0 and 5-3, over North Carolina A&T on Friday, and topped Howard by a 5-3 score in Saturday's opener … Robert Morris suffered a 4-1 loss to North Carolina A&T Saturday evening, before topping Howard 8-0 (5) in its tournament finale … RMU hit .250 as a team over the five games, led by seven hits and a .500 average from Meadow Sacadura … In the circle, the Colonials boast a 1.65 team ERA, allowing just eight earned runs over its first five games … Dana Vatakis (0.00 ERA) and Rachael Rhinehart (0.88 ERA) tied for team-high honors with 8.0 innings of work each, while Taylor Rhinehart struck out a team-high 10 batters over 6.1 innings.
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TOWSON: The Tigers opened the year by going 0-4 at the USC Upstate Spartan Classic … Towson suffered a 1-2 loss to North Carolina Central and a 0-7 setback to the host Spartans Saturday, while falling to UMass, 0-5, and USC Upstate, 6-13, Sunday … The Tigers batted .224 as a team during the event, with Briana Ramirez's six hits leading the squad … Sydni Byers had a team-best .667 average over six at bats, but led the team with two home runs and three RBI … In the circle, Towson owned a 7.00 ERA, with Melissa Abrahamian pitching a team-high 11.1 innings with a 7.41 ERA, an 0-2 record and a team-high seven strikeouts.
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ALBANY: The Great Danes open the 2022 season this weekend … Albany turned in a 23-19 record last season, including a 12-6 record in the America East Conference … UAlbany was picked to finish third in the America East Preseason Coaches Poll.
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WESTERN CAROLINA: The Catamounts own a 5-2 record after splitting a home doubleheader versus Georgia State on Wednesday by scores of 5-1 and 1-2 … WCU opened the season at the River City Leadoff hosted by Jacksonville, going 4-1 at the event … The Catamounts opened the season last Friday with wins over Winthrop, 3-0, and host Jacksonville, 2-1 … After a 1-3 loss to Campbell in its Saturday opener, WCU closed the tournament with another victory over Jacksonville, 4-3 (9), and a 1-0 win over North Carolina State … Western Carolina enters the weekend with a .181 team batting average, led by Savannah Rice's .333 mark … Of Rice's five hits on the year, four have been home runs … She has also driving in seven of WCU's 14 runs over the first seven games … Western Carolina does boast a 1.40 ERA in the circle with Rice (1.05 ERA over 20.0 IP) and Jayme Eilers (1.17 ERA over 24.0 IP) leading the way … Eilers has struck out 31 batters to Rice's 21.
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WINTHROP: The Eagles went 0-5 at last weekend's River City Leadoff, with losses to North Carolina State (2-3), Western Carolina (0-3) and Florida A&M (3-4), as well as a pair of losses to North Florida (0-4 & 2-10 in 6 innings) … Winthrop turned in a .132 batting average as a team, led by three hits apiece from Courtney Cygan, Lauren King and Macy McCall … Sydney Boulware pitched a team-high 12.1 innings and owns a 5.11 ERA … As a team, the Eagles boast a 4.65 ERA.
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THE ALL-TIME SERIES:
- The Cardinals are a combined 12-2 versus teams it will face in the Winthrop Eagle Invitational this weekend
- BSU owns a 7-0 advantage in the all-time series versus Robert Morris, including an 8-0 (6) victory in the most recent meeting March 2, 2018 at the Citrus Classic II at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Kissimmee, Florida.
- The Cardinals win the only previous meeting versus Towson by a score of 10-0 (5) on March 4, 2017 at the Under Armour Invitational hosted by USF.
- Ball State will be playing Albany for the first time in softball.
- The Cardinals scored a 5-4 victory over Western Carolina in the only previous meeting, Feb. 27, 2016 at the WKU Holiday Inn Spring Fling hosted by Western Kentucky.
- BSU is 3-2 all-time versus Winthrop, with the Eagles winning the last meeting by a score of 1-10 (5) on Feb. 14, 2015 a the Auburn Tiger Invitational … Ball State is 2-0 all-time in Rock Hill, S.C., however, sweeping both ends of a March 3, 1992 doubleheader by scores of 5-4 and 5-1.
BALL STATE NOTES:
- Both sophomore shortstop Kayla Lissy and senior center fielder Faith Hensley recorded hits in each of Ball State's five games opening weekend … The effort gives Lissy the longest active hitting streak on the squad at seven games, dating back to last season … For Hensley, it's the longest hitting streak of her career … Lissy's longest career hitting streak is 13 games set last season.
- Ball State blasted five home runs opening weekend, with five different players getting into the action … Junior third baseman Haley Wynn was the first to go yard with a two-run blast in the season opener versus St. Thomas (Feb. 11) … It was her fourth career home run.
- Senior center fielder Faith Hensley provided the second blast, a solo shot in the win over Western Illinois (Feb. 11) … Hensley is second among BSU's active players with nine career home runs.
- Freshman designated player McKayla Timmons provided BSU's biggest home run so far this season, a three-run blast in the fourth inning versus Seattle (Feb. 12) … It was her first career home run and gives Ball State eight active players with at least on career home run.
- Redshirt junior catcher Jazmyne Armendariz opened the seventh inning of the Seattle game with BSU's fourth home run of the season, the third of her career.
- Sophomore shortstop Kayla Lissy added a leadoff shot in the second inning of Sunday's game versus Western Illinois (Feb. 13) for her first career out of the park left-handed home run … Lissy had one left-handed inside the park last season in the opening game of the March 27 doubleheader sweep of Bowling Green … She added her first career grand slam from the right batter's box in the second game of a doubleheader sweep at Buffalo on May 15. Â
- Ball State tied for the league lead with eight stolen bases opening weekend, with five coming from sophomore transfer Remington Ross … All five of Ross' stolen bases came against Western Illinois, with three in Friday's win and two more on Sunday … Sophomore shortstop Kayla Lissy was second on the squad with a pair of stolen bases, after ranking 11th in the MAC last season with 11 stolen bases … BSU's other stolen base came from pinch runner Samantha-Jo Mata.
- With 14 strikeouts last weekend over a team-high 10.2 innings of work, junior pitcher Deborah Jones enters the weekend needing just two more strikeouts to reach 150 … Jones would break into the top 20 in program history with 15 strikeouts this weekend.
- Junior pitcher Deborah Jones is also just one win shy of 20 for her career, tallying seven as a freshman in 2020 and 12 last season … She is three wins shy of breaking into the top 20 in program history.
- Aside from Jones, three other pitchers made they Ball State debuts last weekend, starting with 1.0 innings of work from Caridad Estes versus St. Thomas … Madison Taylor also pitched 2.0 innings of relief in the season-opener, finishing the week with 8.2 innings of work … Angelina Russo picked up the win over Western Illinois in her collegiate debut, throwing the first 6.0 innings, while Taylor was credited with her first career save after pitching the seventh … Russo tallied 9.1 innings of work opening weekend.Â
- Sophomore outfielder Kaitlyn Mathews registered her first career hit in BSU's season-opener versus St. Thomas with a sixth-inning infield single … Earlier in the game she reached base for the first time as a collegiate batter, drawing a fifth-inning walk … As a freshman in 2021, Mathews appeared in nine games and scored three runs as a pinch runner.
Players Mentioned
C/Uti
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LHP
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OF
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RHP
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INF
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INF
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OF
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RHP
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LHP
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UT
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INF/OF
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